Johnson first formed The The in 1979 with Keith Laws on synthesizer (Laws, interestingly, was the one who suggested the name “The The”). One year later, they added a rhythm section (Tom Johnston [bass] & Peter Ashworth [drums]) and signed to 4AD Records. A year after that, every member of the band left to pursue their day jobs (Johnston is now a cartoonist, Ashworth a photographer and Laws a professor of neuropsychology).

Johnson continued the band himself, playing almost every instrument on their first three albums (with the exception of the frequent guest and session musicians). The quote-unquote band’s official debut came with 1983’s Soul Mining, a synth-pop album which garnered Johnson great critical acclaim and some mild chart success (especially with singles “This is the Day” and “Uncertain Smile”). Johnston stayed away from live performance, instead deciding to release his sophomore record, 1986’s Infected alongside an album-length video.

By 1989, he’d warmed to performing once again and assembled a band including Johnny Marr [guitar, ex-Smiths], James Eller [bass, ex-Bad Seed] and David Palmer [drums, ex-ABC]. This lineup stayed together for two albums: Mind Bomb and Dusk (the band’s most successful album, which also saw a full-length film attached to it).

In 1995, Johnson dissolved this lineup and recorded an album of Hank Williams cover songs with a new backing band. In 1997, they recorded a full album under the title Gun Sluts, which was rejected by their label for being too uncommercial. The group promptly ended their relation with Sony and fled to Trent Reznor’s Nothing Records, where they released their most recent album, 2000’s NakedSelf. The The toured for a short while afterward, then went into hibernation.